Brothers In Arms
by Vegito4President
Summary: A retelling of the One Piece story with a huge difference, Ace joins Luffy on his adventure. I will try to update once a week, but no promises
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Start Of A New Adventure

Monkey D. Luffy stood on his ship, barely bigger than a rowboat, saying farewell to his home village. He was drifting out to sea, beginning his long and arduous journey to become King of the Pirates. "Well, Ace, we're finally leaving."

"Yea. Travelling to sea to become King." Travelling with Luffy was his older "brother", Portgas D. Ace. Ace and Luffy met when they were just kids and quickly grew into best friends, calling each other brother.

"Man, I'm hungry!" Luffy complained as his stomach grumbled. "Ace, did Makino pack us any food?"

Ace looked into a backpack he had before answering. "Yea, but we better keep it r-" Ace was cut off by the sounds of Luffy eating. "Dammit Luffy! At least save some for me!"

And so the two brothers began eating what little food they had. They also had a barrel of water each, so no concerns were on their minds.

"Hey Luffy, did you remember to pack a map?" Ace asked his younger brother between bites.

"A map?" Luffy stared blankly into the sky as he pondered the question. "Nope" Luffy replied nonchalantly before going back to his food. Ace looked at Luffy for a short while before he just shrugged and went back to his food.

Luffy suddenly stood up with his chest puffed out. "So, first mate, where is our first destination?"

"Who the hell are you calling first mate?" Ace asked as he stood up as well. The two brothers suddenly got in each others faces, each had a fist pulled back.

"Haha! We'll figure that out later!" Both brothers sat back down, although Ace noticed Luffy had a grin on his face. "What's so funny Luffy?"

"You have a bounty!" Ace blushed as Luffy spoke.

"How the hell do you know about that?!" Ace asked as his face got redder.

"I saw your bounty posters over town, why did you think everyone was scared of you?" Ace calmed down as he took in Luffy's words.

"Hmm, they were acting shady now that I think about it."

"15 million! My brother's an outlaw!" Luffy celebrated this joyous occasion by stuffing himself with food.

"Well, what can I say? It's the life of a pirate." As Ace waited for Luffy to turn 17, he explored the East Blue a little. Eventually becoming a wanted criminal.

"I bet my first bounty will be double yours!" Luffy said as he gorged himself. Ace laughed at his brother as he sat back and relaxed.

"Hey, Luffy? Can I tell you something?"

"Sure, anything."

"I want you to keep my father a secret." Ace asked his plea in a low voice.

Luffy took notice and became serious. "But why? That's totally awesome. Being the son of Gold Roger!"

"I don't wanna live in his shadow. My father was the King, he set the mark high. If people find out, especially marines, I'll be hunted to the ends of the Earth. I don't want that. I wanna be chased for my crimes! I wanna be famous for my actions! I don't wanna live in anybodys shadow." Ace gave a low sigh as he finished his little rant.

"Ok, we'll keep it our secret. I know how you feel. My grandpa is a hero of the marines, I'd hate to be compared to him. I wanna be a pirate in control of my fate!" Luffy yelled out the last part of his speech, loud enough to make Ace wince.

"Yea! And then I'll become Pirate King!" The two brothers laughed as their ship continued its journey.

* * *

><p>It was the third day into their journey and the two brothers were eating the last of their food. After a while, Luffy noticed Ace had stopped grabbing food. "Huh?" Luffy looked up at Ace and was angry at first. "Ace, you fell asleep again!" Luffy suddenly stopped as an idea popped in to his head. "More food for me!" Luffy began stuffing food into his mouth, completely unaware of the whirlpool in front of him. Luffy stopped eating when he noticed the ship moving in circles. "Huh, what's happening?" Luffy noticed the whirlpool. "We're getting sucked into a whirlpool...awesome!" Luffy quickly climbed into his barrel as Ace finally woke up.<p>

"Huh? What the hell's happening?" Ace looked around groggy as he noticed the whirlpool. "Shit, is that a whirlpool! Luffy, where the hell are you?!" Ace looked around but could not find his younger brother.

"In here! Get in one, it'll be fun!" Ace looked at Luffys barrel and sighed.

"If we die, it's your fault!" Ace felt the ship tipping over, but the barrel withstood it. '_Don't die on me Luffy. Not like Sabo'_

* * *

><p>Take everything on the ship in the name of Alvida! A pirate crew was robbing a cruise ship.<p>

A pink haired boy was rolling two barrels out of a room. "Man, these are heavy! They must be filled with sake. Hopefully this'll get Alvida off my back for a while."

"Alvida?"

The boy jumped in surprise at the voice. "W-what was that?!" Before he could get an answer, three pirates walked into the room.

"Hey, it looks as if choreboy is trying to steal some barrels!" One of the pirates said.

"N-no! I was gonna take them to Alvida!"

"Hey guys, how about we keep one? For ourselves?" One of the pirates asked.

"Yea! But what about choreboy here?"

"You won't tell, right kid?"

"N-no. You guys enjoy yourselves!"

As one of the pirates was walking to the barrels, he got a huge surprise.

"THAT WAS A GREAT NAP!"

* * *

><p>So concludes chapter 1. Please R&amp;R<p> 


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2: Ace meets an old friend

The pirates were completely taken aback by this. "Who the hell are you!?" They all screamed in unison.

"Me? Who are you?" Luffy answered back casually.

As the pirates were overcoming their shock, the other barrel suddenly opened, revealing yet another person. "Huh? Who are you guys?"

The pirates all stared in shock as this new person came out. Suddenly, one of the pirates started trembling. "Y-you're Portgas D. Ace!" The other pirates suddenly understood what he meant, and immediately got frightened.

"Yea, and I'm Monkey D. Luffy! The future king of the pirates!" Luffy grinned wildly as one of the pirates finally stepped up. He had his sword in hand, and it was trembling violently.

"P-portgas D. Ace! In the name of the A-alvida pirates, you will be captured!" "We will capture you and then Alvida will surely give us higher ranks!" Another pirate commented. "I just wanna know why you're still in the East Blue, but it's no time for questions."

The two brothers shared a look before laughing out loud. "Alvida, bounty of 5 million, right?" Ace asked as he suddenly got serious.

"Of course! The most beautiful woman on these seas!"

"You have a twisted sense of beauty, buddy." Ace cracked his knuckles before he moved on. "Give Alvida a little message for me. Me and brother, we are the strongest pirates on these seas!" "Yea! You tell 'em Ace!" Ace suddenly rocketed forth and took out all the opposing pirates in a flash.

"Wow Ace! You got way faster than last time!" Luffy was in awe at the tricks his older brother pulled off.

"It's called training Luffy, try it sometime." Luffy immediately got in Ace's face with his fist cocked back.

"You think I don't train? How about I kick your ass!" "Try it Luffy! I'll have you down in a second!"

The two brothers were interrupted by a whiny voice nearby. "B-both of you, s-stay right where you are!" They both looked over and saw a lavender haired boy aiming a gun at them.

"I get to kick his ass!" Ace suddenly punched Luffy across the head. "Dammit Luffy, he's just a child."

"That hurt Ace!" Luffy rubbed his head as he glared at his brother. His expression suddenly changed, though. "Wait, it hurt me?"

"Alright kid, are you gonna shoot us or what?" The kid looked at the brothers in complete fear.

"O-of course I will! I'm a member of the Alvida pirates!"

"What's your name kid?"

"Coby." Coby sweated his heart out as Ace approached him.

"Well, Coby. Hand over the gun, won't ya?" Ace held his hand out, directly in front of Coby.

_'Why can't I shoot him? Is it cause I lack the willpower? I can't shoot him, I can't live this life of piracy!' _Coby dropped the pistol in Ace's hands, who in turn just tossed it behind him.

"There, now was that so hard?" Ace then noticed Luffy had disappeared. "Where the hell did he run off to?"

"O-over there." Coby said as he pointed a shaking finger at an open door.

Ace walked over to the door, and saw Luffy chowing down on an abundance of fruit. "Figures." Ace said to himself. He immediately followed after Luffy.

* * *

><p>"So, you two are brothers?" Coby asked as he held an apple in his hands.<p>

"Damn close to it!" Luffy said with his mouth stuffed. Ace looked down into his hands at an unfinished apple, his eyes showing that he was in his own world.

"So, Coby, what is your dream?" Luffy asked, completely shocking Coby.

"My dream? What do you mean?" Coby asked in confusion.

"I want to be the pirate king, that's my dream. What is yours?"

Coby looked blankly at a wall for a few seconds before answering. "I wanna be a marine..." He said, barely above a whisper.

Luffy stood up and stared at Coby. "What did you say?"

"W-what? Please don't kill me!" Coby cowered, expecting to be hit. After he wasn't, he looked at Luffy. "Huh?"

"Stand up and tell me your dream!" Luffy barked in a very uncharacteristic tone.

Coby was taken aback by the command, but stood up. "I wanna be a marine."

"That's not good enough! You'll never make it if you don't have any ambition!"

Coby stared at Luffy in the eyes, seeing only a very determined man. _'He's right, I gotta stand up for my dream. I have to believe I can make it happen.' _"I...wanna be a marine!"

"Louder!"

"I wanna be a marine!"

"Dammit Coby, louder!"

"I...WANNA BE A MARINE!"

Luffy smiled at Coby, proud of his progression. Luffy opened his mouth to speak, but he was violently interrupted. The ceiling suddenly caved in, and Luffy managed to pull Coby away just as Ace also jumped back. "What the hell?"

"Did I hear you say, marine?"

The trio stared in awe at the huge woman in front of them. "Wow, she's huge!" Luffy said absent-mindedly.

"Shut your mouth moron! Cabin boy, what is this nonsense you're spouting?" Alvida stared directly at Coby, who seemed to shrink in size.

"Tell her Coby! Tell her what you wanna be!" Luffy encouraged.

"I-I can't Luffy. I'm to scared." Luffy gave a little nod, just in time to avoid a club swing from Alvida.

"For your treason, you will die!"

"I don't think so. Luffy, let's go!" "Right!"

Luffy grabbed Coby and used Alvida as a stepping stone to get out of the hole she made. Ace soon followed suit. "Well, see ya lady!"

* * *

><p>As they landed on the deck of the ship, they soon realized they were surrounded. "Hmm, looks like we're trapped." "I guess so. You go left I go right?" "Yea!"<p>

The brothers split up and each had pirates chasing them. Ace, deemed the bigger threat, had three-quarters of them chasing him. He proceeded to knock them out, swiftly and gracefully. Each of them went down with a single punch.

Luffy, on the other hand, was having a lot more fun. He had the pirates spinning circles trying to catch him. When he bored, though, he decided to end it. As he ran past the mast, he gripped it with one hand. He continued running, his hand stretching. This stopped all the pirates who stared in horror. Luffy stopped after running to the other end of the ship. "Now, gum-gum rocket!" His hand let go of the mast and his body propelled itself into the pirates, knocking them all down. "Woo, that was fun!"

"What the hell happened?" Alvida appeared, fuming mad at Luffy. "You runt! I will kill you!"

* * *

><p>"Here we go, just what I was looking for! And I got some gold to! This was a great find! Now all I have to do is get out of here without being noticed."<p>

"Nami?"

* * *

><p>Please excuse my very long hiatus. I didn't mean to be gone for so long, but that's how it happened. Please enjoy chapter 2 and don't forget to review!<p> 


	3. Announcement

Special announcement:

I apologize for the long hiatus, but I am back to business. I lost motivation, to be honest. But I fell in love with anime again and am proud to say that the next chapter is fully underway. Expect it and others to be posted by Monday (hopefully). I would also like to ask if anyone would be interested in being sort of a co-author, to trade ideas with and to help in case I go away again. If so, just message me and I'll get back to you. Thank you all for the patience and I promise the quality of the story will increase.


	4. Chapter 3

The Demon Swordsman: Roronoa Zoro

Nami, in the span of two seconds, put together her staff and swung it at her assailant, stopping inches from his face. "Ace?" Nami looked surprised as she looked at his face. Emotions swelled inside, but only one came out. Anger. "Ace you bastard! Who the hell do you think you are! You disappear for two years without a single word and then you just show up like this?" Nami's eyes watered and she embraced Ace in a hug. "I missed you." She whispered, almost inaudible.

Ace quickly returned the hug and a small smile found his face. He let Nami calm herself before he spoke. "I'm sorry, I really am. You see, two years ago, Arlong would have kicked my ass. I had to keep training, so I did. It just so happened that I fell into a little trouble. Long story short, I was forcefully relocated. But I'm back now, and I promise we will take down Arlong.

Nami wiped her tears away and stared into Ace's eyes, then her face turned into one of confusion. "What do you mean, we?"

Ace gave her a smirk before he pointed out the window. "That's my brother, Luffy."

Nami stared with wide eyes. "OH MY GOD!" Ace followed her trail of vision and was surprised to see Alvida's club resting on Luffy's head, as if she'd just swung it down on him. "Ace, I'm so sorry!" Nami tried apologizing, but Ace just started laughing.

* * *

><p>"You think taking out my crew is funny kid? I'll show you funny!" Alvida kept swinging her club, but Luffy avoided all her shots.<p>

"Wow, you sure are a bad sh-" Alvida's club landed directly on Luffy's head.

Coby stared in horror, what had he just witnessed? "Y-you killed him!"

Alvida was worried though. Normally when she smashed someone's head in, she could hear the sound of bones cracking. But why didn't she hear it this time? "You see what happens when you mess with a true pirate, kid?" Alvida lifted her club, expecting to see gore. What she got instead was a smiling Luffy.

"That was a weak shot! I'll show you a real hit!" Luffy stretched his arm back, farther than Alvida thought it could go. "Now Gum-Gum...Pistol!" Luffy arm rocketed forward and hit Alvida straight in the gut. Her face showed her pain as the hit sent her flying. She disappeared from sight, leaving Coby speechless.

"Luffy...you're incredible! I didn't think anything like that was possible! You sure showed her!" Coby couldn't contain his excitement, he was finally free of Alvida!

"Yea, she was easy. I hope we meet stronger people, that was to easy." As Luffy finished his sentence, the ship was under sudden attack. "Woah, what was that?" Luffy shouted, referring to the now rocking boat.

Coby looked behind them and his eyes widened in fear. "Marines!"

Luffy looked too, but his reaction was completely different. "Yes, another fight!"

"Luffy, jump over!" Luffy heard his brother's voice and looked to the sea. There he saw Ace in a boat next to some girl he'd never seen before. "Jump into that one, quick!"

"Sure, whatever you say Ace!" Luffy quickly grabbed Coby and jumped overboard, Coby was screaming the whole time. "Yea, we made it!"

"Good now let's get the hell out of here." Ace and Luffy frantically started rowing, safely leaving the area.

* * *

><p>"I can't remember the last time I had so much fun!" Luffy screamed in joy as he laid back in his little ship, barely leaving any space for Coby. "Hey Ace, who is she?" Luffy pointed over to Nami.<p>

Nami responded to the question, quite aggressively actually. "We've been sailing for two days and just now you wonder that? What kind of a moron are you?!"

Ace's laugh was the only audible noise as Luffy wondered why the girl was angry at him. "But all I did was ask who you were." Luffy asked, clearly confused.

"We've been sailing side by side for two entire days, why didn't you ask before?!" Nami responded, still fuming.

"I dunno, I guess I wasn't interested." Luffy laid back again and seemingly forgot why he even bothered talking to Nami, who looked at him with stunned eyes.

"Ace...how is he so stupid? How can he even be remotely related to you?"

"It's a long story, but just ignore that side of him for now." Ace turned his attention towards his brother, who was dozing off. "Now listen up Luffy." Luffy sat up, he knew that tone of voice. "This is Nami, and we're gonna help her village get rid of some pesky problems."

"Oh, ok. Sounds easy enough!" Luffy responded with a smile, which Ace immediately shot down.

"This is no time for jokes! This guy, he's really strong. And I'm honestly not sure that we could take him. I want you to take this seriously and if you don't think you're up for it, we'll drop you off somewhere."

Luffy rose to his feet, nearly tipping him and Coby over. "Ace, shut up!" Nami looked at Luffy with wide eyes, what was he doing? "You know that as long as we work together, nothing can stop us! Whoever this guy is, if he hurt our friend, then I will kick his ass!"

Ace smiled at Luffy, he had done his job. "Good, now keep that intensity for when we fight Arlong. Nami, what's the next town?"

Nami wiped at her eyes and then took out a map. "Ah, Shells Town, according to this map."

Now it was Coby's turn to speak up. "Shells Town?! Are you people crazy?" The rest of the crew looked at him with puzzled faces. "Shells Town, that's where they're keeping him!" Coby looked around again, but he still got blank looks. "Roronoa Zoro, the demon with three swords! The demonic pirate hunter! The man who kills pirates as if they were nothing!"

"Oh, I see. Yea, I see why one would get scared of Zoro."

"Whoa, have you met him Ace?" Luffy asked, nearly falling overboard with excitement.

"No, but I heard the guy's powerful enough to be on the Grand Line."

"S-should we really head to him, then?" Nami asked, trying to act brave.

"No, absolutely not!" Coby was the first to speak, although his decision was quickly overturned.

"Of course! This guy's gonna join my crew! I need strong people, so why not Zoro?" Luffy spoke his opinion and the crew bickered about. But as the four companions were arguing, they knew not what they were getting into. Roronoa Zoro would be a tough prize to collect, a prize that could very well end a life.

* * *

><p>The wind blew through his lungs. There, symbolically tied to a cross, rested Roronoa Zoro. The man who would give the Strawhat Pirates their first challenge.<p>

* * *

><p>The two ships that served as the rides for the small crew finally hit shore. "FINALLY!" Luffy shouted as he stepped out onto land. "Jeez, my feet were killing me!"<p>

"For someone who wants to be on the sea most of the time, you sure do complain a lot." Ace playfully teased Luffy, getting the reaction he wanted.

"Shut up Ace! I was just joking. Yea, joking!" As the three guys walked away, Nami finished tying the boats to the dock. She looked on as they seemed completely at peace, could they really be the ones to rid her island of the monster known as Arlong? She shook the thought from her head and quickly aught up to the group.

"And then I'm gonna punch him!" Is what Nami heard come out of Luffy's mouth as she caught up.

"Punch who, exactly?" She inquired.

"Luffy's telling us about how he's gonna beat up Shanks!" Coby answered, obviously enthralled by Luffy's story.

Suddenly, Ace stopped walking. "Hey, Luffy. Wait up a minute."

"Huh, what is it Ace?" Luffy asked, slightly concerned.

"Only one of us can be the captain, right?" He recieved a nod. "Then I wanna make you a deal. I'll let you be the captain, if you let me fight Whitebeard when we meet his crew."

Luffy looked ecstatic. "Yes! You have yourself a deal, Ace! You can fight this beard guy, and I'm the captain!" Luffy started jumping in joy, he was finally the captain!

But then, Coby ruined his mood. "Luffy, do you know who Whitebeard is?" A shake of the head revealed Luffy's answer. "He's the strongest pirate in the world, Luffy."

Luffy stopped celebrating and looked at Coby. "No he isn't, Shanks is. Everyone knows that Shanks is the stro-" Luffy was cut off by a bullet flying past his face. The crew turned around and behind them stood a dozen marines.

"S-see! I told you that was Portgas D. Ace!" One of the said, clearly scared. The rest also looked frightened.

"Luffy, go find Zoro. I'll handle these guys." Luffy gave a nod and ran off, for once not excited at the prospect of a fight.

As they were left alone, the leader of the squad stepped forward. "Portgas D. Ace! By order of the World Government, you are under arrest!"

Ace's reply was a smug smile. "Yea? And who's gonna make me?" He held his arms out, beckoning the marines to attack him.

One marines stepped up. "What are you even doing in East Blue? I heard you'd gone to the Grand Line with one of the warlords!"

"I did, but I decided that was boring. Being at the top is no fun if you don't get there yourself." With that, Ace was done talking. He launched himself at the marines taking out two of them immediately. The leader swung his sword aimlessly, Ace kneed him in the face. One of them shot at Ace at near point-blank range, Ace dodged and it hit a fellow marine. With those four out, the rest of the squadron retreated. Ace stood there looking bored. "Well, time to catch up to Luffy."

* * *

><p>The long awaited chapter 3 is out! Thanks to all of you for your patience and I hope I didn't disappoint. As a little inside, Ace will not be overpowered. This was just a mere showing of his strength. Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy!<p> 


End file.
